Motion-Emotion-Lab
Psychophysiological laboratory for movement and emotion studies in Systematic Musicology (music physiology, musical acoustics, music psychology) and in musicians’ health and music medicine.
Making music requires highly complex fine-motor movements and cognitive performance. Modern hardware and software systems allow Music Performance Science to investigate how music is played and heard. They document movements, muscle activity and emotional processes, and they provide a basis for developing improvements and for the prevention of overuse complaints and performance anxiety.
- Courses by Bertsch and Türk-Espitalier
- Research projects at the Department of Music Physiology
- Open research seminar (monthly)
- VR performance training and the StageShift reverb app: vret.at
- Short demo of measurement devices in the lab (YouTube)
- Location: ///glänzen.weinen.träumen (what3words)
Research & Measurement Areas
| 🕺 | Motion & Biomechanics 3D motion capture, EMG and pressure measurements capture posture, fine-motor playing movements and muscle activity. |
| 🎭 | Emotion & Psychophysiology Skin conductance, pulse, heart rate variability, temperature and respiration make emotional experience and arousal during music-making visible. |
| 🥽 | Virtual Reality & Augmented Audio 360° recordings of real concert halls and juries for VR exposure training against performance anxiety, combined with live room acoustics via headphones. |
| 🫁 | Respiration & Spirometry Respiration belts and spirometers document breathing patterns and lung capacity. |
| 🎤 | Voice & Singing Voice range profile, biofeedback and sound level analyses for voice research. |
| 🔊 | Acoustics & Psychoacoustics Audio, spectral and listening experiments on sound and perception. |
| 🎥 | Audio & Video Audio, video and thermal-imaging recordings to document music-making. |
Infrastructure
Motion Capture
Body-worn motion sensors and video-based pose tracking for posture and movement analysis.
- NORAXON MyoMotion Research: 6 sensors, 100 Hz sampling rate, with 3D modeling and biomechanical analysis software
- CROM 3 (Cervical Range of Motion) goniometer
- Markerless motion capture (pose tracking) with SInES Tools
EMG (Electromyography)
Surface electromyography measures the electrical activity of muscles. It shows how muscles are activated and detects increased tension.
- NORAXON Desktop DTS 8-channel EMG system with myoMUSCLE Master software (MyoResearch 3, MR3) · FAQ on EMG
- Schuhfried Biofeedback 2000 x-pert: two-channel wireless EMG modules
Pressure Measurement
Force plates document standing posture. Special sensors also measure the forces that occur while playing an instrument.
- ZEBRIS FDM-S pressure platform for stance and roll-off analysis
- NORAXON MyoResearch 3 (MR3) myoPressure software module
- NORAXON DTS FlexiForce single-point pressure sensor, 25 lb
Psychophysiological Biosensors
Skin conductance, pulse, skin temperature and breathing patterns reveal biopsychological mechanisms and provide additional information about music perception and emotional experience while playing.
- NORAXON DTS Bio Monitor (pulse, respiration, temperature) with biomechanical analysis software
- Schuhfried Biofeedback 2000 x-pert (Bluetooth), incl. audio/video recorder and statistics module
- 2× Schuhfried BFB multisensor with wireless modules SCL, SCR, TEMP, PULS, RESP
- Schuhfried BFB RESP respiration belt combination (chest and abdominal sensor)
- Schuhfried BFB HRV module (heart rate variability)
- 11× Empatica EmbracePlus wristbands: electrodermal activity (EDA), accelerometer, photoplethysmography (pulse rate, pulse rate variability, inter-beat interval), skin temperature, steps, rest and activity, on-skin detection
- Mindfield eSense Skin Response: skin conductance measurement with smartphone app
Virtual Reality & Augmented Audio
Hardware and software for recording real performance spaces and for VR exposure training. The tours and the app are listed under Online Tools below.
- Ricoh Theta Z1 360° camera
- Insta360 Pro 2 VR camera (6 × 6K cameras, stitched 8K video)
- Rode NT-SF1 ambisonic microphone
- Zoom F8n 8-channel field recorder
- VR headsets: Meta Quest 1, Quest 2 (on loan from Bertsch), Quest 3 and Quest Pro
- PICO 4 VR headset, 128 GB (on loan from ÖGfMM)
- Software: 3DVista Virtual Tour for the 360° tours;
- Augmented Practice Room (IEM Graz) for live room acoustics
Respiration
Spirometry documents respiratory function and lung capacity.
- COSMED Pony FX MIP/MEP Advanced desktop spirometer
Voice Analysis
In addition to audio recordings, dedicated hardware and software packages provide singer-specific information.
- VOCE VidiVoice Biofeedback Professional
- VOCE VidiVoice Stimmfeld Professional (voice range profile measurements)
- 2× PCE-322A sound level meter, dB(A)/dB(C), with data logger
- VOLTCRAFT DL-161S sound level meter, dB(A)
Audio / Video
Audio and video recordings provide an important basis for documenting music-making.
- NTI XL2 audio and acoustic analyzer (sound level meter)
- FLIR ONE thermal imaging camera for iPhone
- USB audio interfaces and various microphones (M2, Rode M1, Focusrite)
- NORAXON Myo Sync and Sync Light synchronization modules
Online Tools
VRET and StageShift (vret.at)
- VRET – Virtual Reality Exposure Training: photorealistic 360° tours with real concert halls and juries, running in the browser of Meta Quest and PICO headsets. In the headset browser, simply enter vret.at/go.
- StageShift: mobile convolution reverb app for iOS and Android. It places your own live sound in other rooms via headphones. Currently in beta.
- Video: VR performance training in the Motion-Emotion-Lab (YouTube)
Audio Players
- Relative hearing test: compare how well you hear different frequencies, or how well your playback device performs
- A & C Harmonic Octave Series Player (fundamental + 5 overtones)
- Buttkicker Low Frequencies Player (just intonation, click & play frequency pads)
The Motion-Emotion-Lab is an official friend & partner of the SInES Tools: Tools for Data Acquisition and Empirical Research in Systematic Musicology at the University of Vienna. © 2019–2026 Christoph Reuter and SInES
These tools were developed by Christoph Reuter and the SInES Team at the University of Vienna and are available under a free license. Original site: sinestools.univie.ac.at
SInES Tool Areas
| 🎭 | Emotion & Expression Analysis Tools for analyzing emotion, facial expression, gaze behavior, pulse and physiological arousal. They support empirical studies on expression, perception and emotional response. |
| 🕺 | Pose & Motion Tracking Video-based tools for capturing body, hand and movement data. Suitable for analyzing playing movements, gesture, performance and motor coordination. |
| 🎶 | Signal & Audio Analysis Tools for analyzing audio signals, spectra, frequency bands, formants, pitches and onsets. They serve to investigate the acoustic properties of voice, instrument and sound. |
| 🤘 | Music & Voice Analysis Tools for analyzing music, voice, genre, mood, tempo, MIDI data and vocal expression. This also includes applications for speech emotion, metal vocals, pitch, chroma and beat. |
| 🔊 | Sound Design & Psychoacoustics Tools for investigating timbre, masking, harmonic tension, partials and resynthesis. They combine acoustic analysis with psychoacoustic questions. |
| 🎻 | Instrumental Tools Specialized programs for intonation, tuning and timbre analysis of string instruments. Currently available for violin, viola and violoncello. |
| 🖼️ | Image & Visual Data Tools Tools for the automated analysis of image material and visual data. This includes image-series evaluation and perception-based color comparisons. |
| 🧠 | Neurophysiological Tools Applications for EEG data acquisition and the experimental use of neurophysiological signals. This includes a Muse 2 data logger with brain synthesizer and sampler. |
| 🎨 | Timbre & Special Experiments Experimental tools for investigating timbre, perception and special questions in music and performance research. This area is continuously expanded. |